A Child’s Introduction To Poetry Review

Having great resources is a must for any homeschool. Every once in a while I come across a book that won’t be at the local library. I buy it because it’s so good that it’s worth the investment as an asset to our homeschool. Usually these types of books have value now and for years to come. A Child’s Introduction to Poetry by Michael Driscoll  is one of them.  I am very impressed with it. It’s diversity and depth on the subject of poetry was both inspiring and comprehensive.

At first I wasn’t sure it would be worth the cost, it’s available from Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers for $19.95. But after delving into it I had absolutely no regrets. In fact, the CD alone was well worth the price, giving us 64 tracks of well performed and entertaining poetry. The book is hardback so that it will last the test of time making it an excellent investment. Then after working on the information inside, I realized the content of the book itself. It would be providing us with poetry study, not just for this year but for many years to come because there is just so much in it to discuss and learn.

This book is divided into two sections:

1. The Rhymes and Their Reasons
2. Poetry Greats: Rulers of Rhyme, Legends of Lyric, and Superstars of the Spoken Word

The Rhymes and Their Reasons section covers several popular types of poetry:

• Nursery Rhymes
• Nonsense Verse
• The Villanelle
• The Limerick
• The Haiku
• Narrative Verse
• Lyric Verse
• The Ballad
• The Pastoral
• The Sonnet
• Free Verse
• ABC Poems
• Riddles
• Epitaphs
• Shaped Poetry (Poetry where the words fit into a shape related to the verse for visual appeal.)

For every poetry type there is at least one example and for shorter poems there are often many. In addition, a description and brief “lesson” are offered about the type of poem. The history is also given; telling when this type of poetry became popular and how it evolved. It tells what pattern is present and highlights its unusual or particular quality.

The second part, Poetry Greats: Rulers of Rhyme, Legends of Lyric, and Superstars of the Spoken Word, highlights many famous poets. You almost have to study the poet with his poetry. This book includes both ways of studying poetry, by type and author, which makes this book different than many other poetry books. Here is a list of the variety of authors so you can see how diverse it really is:

• Homer
• Shakespeare
• John Milton
• William Blake
• William Wordsworth
• Elizabeth Barret Browning
• Edgar Allen Poe
• Emily Dickinson
• Walt Whitman
• Christina Rossetti
• Robert Frost
• Robert Louis Stevenson
• Rudyard Kipling
• Hilaire Belloc
• Carl Sandburg
• W.H. Auden
• Langston Hughes and more!

We really like that the book is fun and we can learn about poetry at our own pace over time. The illustrations by Meredith Hamilton are charming and whimsical and appeal to both boys and girls of all ages. They are truly fantastic. They make each poem spring to life with interest and facilitate fun and inspiration throughout the book.

How we use it:

We often listen to the poetry CD in the car. This helps my child get inspired by poetry and become familiar with the poems in this book. It’s really terrific for those days when I can’t get a formal writing lesson in. We generally visit the book a little each week as part of our language arts program. When I can teach directly, I like to pick one of the forms and read about it. Then after looking at the examples we break them down a bit making particularly sure we discuss the pattern. Sometimes we can apply what we’ve learn by writing our own poem.

I can happily recommend this book to you since it is so complete, well done, and simply a delightful way to enhance any language program with poetry study. It’s a great “spine” book for poetry lessons that you can branch off from. It is also perfect as a resource book on poetry: looking up authors, types of poetry, and their history. It’s a book that you can visit over the years as your children grow, picking the poems to study that will interest them (and  you) over time.

Written by Stephanie- homeschooler of 10+ years with an eclectic homeschool style. Influenced by Charlotte Mason and the Classical Education model. Check out her creative approach and more @ Harrington Harmonies  and Nature Notebook or find her on facebook and twitter.

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